School of Psychology Research Scholarships September 2019 NEW

Psychology at Kent offers a supportive, dynamic and diverse environment for creative research and learning. We conduct both basic and applied research in several areas, and we are highly regarded as a leading European centre for postgraduate research. We have a long-established international reputation in social psychology, and this is complemented by our strengths in cognitive neuropsychology, developmental and forensic psychology. We also have experts in organisational and political psychology. The research interests of our staff can be found on the School of Psychology’s website.

Psychology at Kent is currently inviting applications for two research scholarships to commence in September 2019. These scholarships will take the form of School of Psychology Research Scholarships administered under the Graduate Teaching Assistant Scheme.

*We can offer supervision of projects in the areas of Developmental, Organisational and Political Psychology as part of the Psychology PhD programme.

Graduate Teaching Assistantships

Students engaged as Graduate Teaching Assistants hold a unique position in the University; they are both registered PhD students in receipt of a scholarship and employees of the University. The GTAs will cover tuition fees at the Home/EU rate plus a combined maintenance grant and salary, equivalent to the full UK Research Councils rate of £15,009 (rate for 2019/20). The GTAs will be offered for one year in the first instance, renewable for a maximum of three years subject to satisfactory academic performance.

Criteria

To be considered for the scholarship, candidates must have at least a strong 2:1/Merit (or international equivalent) in an undergraduate degree and Master’s level degree in Psychology (or closely allied discipline) from recognised institutions. They must also hold first-class marks in research dissertations or research methods. All candidates must have at least two supportive academic references, and a background in psychology or a methodologically relevant discipline. Applicants must also provide evidence that they satisfy the University’s minimum English language requirements. The panel must also be satisfied that the candidate has demonstrated the ability and motivation to teach effectively.

Eligibility

The GTA competition is open to applicants from any country however, students who require a visa to study in the UK are excluded owing to the short start date. Please note that overseas students must have the appropriate documentation to evidence eligibility to work in the UK. Further information can be found here. Since the award covers tuition fees at the Home/EU rate, Overseas fee paying students would have to make up the difference in tuition fees themselves; the maintenance grant must not be used for this purpose. The method of determining tuition fee status is complex and follows guidelines issued by the UK Council for International Student Affairs.

Please note that current Kent PhD students are not eligible for the School of Psychology Research Scholarship awards.

How to Apply

All completed applications must be received by 23:59 (UK time) on Monday 16 September 2019.

Completed applications must comprise all of the following:

An expression of interest to psypgadmissions@kent.ac.uk as early as possible. This should include your full name and also the name of your supervisor.

The name of the proposed supervisor (this should be agreed with the relevant staff member prior to submission)

A transcript of degree undergraduate and postgraduate marks to date and certificate, if completed, in pdf format

The name and email address of one academic referee. Please leave a suitable amount of time for your referee to respond to the reference request which is sent automatically upon submission of the PhD application in KentVision. We also require a second academic reference by email to psypgadmissions@kent.ac.uk via their professional email account. References must also be received by 23:59 (UK time) on Monday 16 September 2019.

Please note that the PhD application form in KentVision includes fields and word count guidelines that are not specific to consideration for this competition so please ensure that you follow the procedures listed above. In fields such as ‘Reasons for study’ and ‘Research proposal’ you are welcome to write ‘See Application form for PhD Scholarships’ etc.

The shortlisting process will start from Tuesday 17 September and interviews will be held on Tuesday 24 September. Unfortunately we are unable to cover travel costs but will arrange telephone/Skype interviews where appropriate. Shortlisted candidates will be required to present their proposal using visual aids (i.e. Powerpoint presentation slides) at interview.